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	The Dialog to Cease Publication By Molly Murray News Journal April 13, 2011 http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110413/NEWS/110413038/The-Dialog-cease-publication?odyssey=nav|head One of the Delmarva Peninsula’s largest circulation newspapers – The Dialog -- will be closing sometime in the fall. The weekly paper, mailed to all registered Catholic households within the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, has a circulation of about 55,000 readers and has been in publication since Sept. 3, 1965. The decision to close the paper is part of a move by the diocese to cut 19 full-time and three part-time jobs and trim operating expenses as the organization moves to pay in excess of $77.4 million to survivors of some 150 claims of priest sexual abuse and attempt to move out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings that began in 2009, according to a letter written by Bishop W. Francis Malooly. The letter appears in the online version of The Dialog. The paper version is expected to arrive in households Thursday. The Dialog costs about $500,000 annually to produce and distribute, said Robert Krebs, a spokesman for the diocese. While advertisers do help offset some of the costs of production, it hasn’t kept pace with increasing paper, distribution and staff costs, Krebs said. “It’s a sign of the times,” he said, adding that it is no reflection on the quality of the paper. “Everybody likes it,” he said. “It’s a wonderful newspaper.” Publication of The Dialog will likely continue through the summer, when the paper normally moves to a biweekly schedule, Krebs said. Meanwhile, Diocese officials will be reviewing their communications options for the future, Krebs said. Some type of online newsletter may be a possibility but no decisions have been made, he said. The Dialog closure will impact seven full-time staff and one contract employee. Employees throughout the diocese received notice of the cuts in an April 4 memo from Malooly. He elaborated on the reductions in staff and programs in the April 14 Dialog. “As I stated in my letter to the employees, the reductions in budget have been spread throughout the six diocesan departments and administrative offices.” Most, he wrote were required to cut expenses by 25 percent. “The ending of people’s jobs with the diocese is a difficult decision, and one made only with the greatest reluctance,” he wrote. Besides The Dialog closure, cuts include one position in the chancery office, one in the office for Hispanic ministry, one in human resources, one in religious education, one in the Catholic youth ministry and two part-time positions in the tribunal. Eight jobs will be cut from Catholic Charities. Two programs, Parish Social Ministry and the Adoption Program, will be significantly reduced or phased out. Contact Molly Murray at 463-3334 or mmurray@delawareonline.com
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